FRANKFURT (Bloomberg) -- Porsche said global vehicle sales rose 15 percent in 2013 as demand for the Boxster and Cayman models more than doubled.
Deliveries rose to a record 162,145 cars and SUVs last year, the manufacturer said today in a statement. Sales of the Boxster roadster and related Cayman sports car, which were revamped in 2012, surged to 25,500, a rise of 117 percent.
Growth is set to accelerate in 2014 as Porsche adds the Macan compact SUV to its lineup. The model goes on sale on April 5 in Germany. At a starting price of 57,930 euros for the 340-hp Macan S version, the model will be 24 percent cheaper than a comparably equipped Porsche Cayenne SUV.
"We are looking ahead to the coming months with optimism and are anticipating new growth with the Porsche Macan and 911 Targa models," Bernhard Maier, the company's sales chief, said in the statement.
Volkswagen Group acquired full control of Porsche's automaking operations in August 2012 and the brand accounted for 1.89 billion euros of VW's nine-month operating profit of 8.56 billion euros, the third-largest earnings contribution to the group after Audi and the mass-market VW brand.
Earnings strategy
The division plans on an increase in earnings before interest and taxes this year after additional spending on new vehicles and expanding production capacity offset growth in car sales in 2013, Chief Financial Officer Lutz Meschke said in an interview in late September.
Porsche is targeting sales of the Macan at 50,000 vehicles a year once production is ramped up. Porsche's profit growth is likely to resume in 2014 thanks to the SUV and fresh variants of the 911 model range. The manufacturer will present a revamped version of the 911 Targa, which features a removable roof, at the Detroit auto show next week.
Porsche plans to reach deliveries of more than 200,000 vehicles a year in 2015 or 2016, about three years earlier than planned, CEO Matthias Mueller told reporters in September. But in an interview with Automotive News Europe, the CEO said boosting volume was not top of Porsche's agenda and the company aims to grow sales while remaining the most profitable car manufacturer in the world.
